Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Angel Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Sift and measure the flour and sugar, then set aside.
Separate the eggs, placing the whites in a mixing bowl and the yolks in a small bowl.
Make the batter
Beat the yolks until very frothy.
Whip the egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar and whip until very stiff.
Gradually add sugar to the whipped egg whites and beat in.
Add the yolks and beat until combined.
Incorporate flavoring and mix well.
Gently fold in the flour until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a cake pan and bake for 20 to 40 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whipped whites trap air and give the cake its light, airy structure.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps stabilize the whipped egg white foam.
- All-purpose flour
- Sets during baking to give the cake its final structure.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the egg whites, stabilizing the foam so it whips stiffer and holds longer.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the flour until just combined.. The batter depends on the air trapped in the whipped egg whites. Overmixing or stirring vigorously deflates that foam, which leads to a dense, flat cake.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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